Disclaimer: I do not own "Lilo & Stitch" or any of the characters therein.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO:
LOVE'S FLAME REIGNITED
"Why did you do this?" Leera asked calmly, fingering the bandages on his wrists. Pleakley looked up at her slowly, then looked down at his arms. He shrugged, but did not make eye-contact with her as he replied, "I dunno. When I heard that Le'Kruune was on his way to Earth, I guess I just snapped. All I remember thinking is, that I would rather kill myself than let him do the honors. And then nothing. I saw the blade, picked it up, and afterward, I couldn't feel a thing. I wasn't even thinking anymore. I saw the sweet release of death, and I wasn't afraid. I passed out, and when I woke up, all my senses had returned, and I couldn't believe what I had done."
He continued to stare at the floor, until a gentle hand was laid on his shoulder. He looked up then, but it was not Leera's hand. It was Vay's. She sat down next to him on the bunk, her eye void of expression as she stared unblinking at her son. After a long moment, she spoke.
"What did I tell you about dying before me?" she demanded in a threatening tone that made him tense. "I told you that I would not tolerate that. You are the universe to me, Wendy. My reason for existing. If you leave this life first, then I will have no reason to keep on living."
"Neither will I," Leera added. "Think about this: if you killed yourself, you would only be setting off a chain of events that you wouldn't even live to regret. On top of that, you would actually be letting Le'Kruune win. Now, do you really want to do that?"
For a moment, Pleakley appeared to be thinking. He looked from Vay to Leera, then inwardly at himself. Here they were, the two most important people in his life, his angels, whom he would gladly give his life for, swearing that they would rather die than live without him. Suddenly, understanding dawned on his face.
"No," he whispered. "No, I don't." And he sobbed. Two sets of arms encircled him then, and he stretched his own arms out to embrace them both.
* * * *
God only knows how much time had past since their abduction. Back in California, the hour was late, but up in space, time had little meaning. Exhausted from the day's events, and from his loss of blood, Pleakley had dozed off, waking up an hour or two later in the arms of his beloved. As he began to stir, he woke up Leera, who laid a gentle hand on the back of his head. He opened his eye and looked up at her. She looked back, smiling sweetly. "Comfy?" she asked him, and he blushed a little, realizing that he had been using her chest as a pillow.
"Very," he replied, grinning. He stretched, further pressing his face against her bosom. Even though it had been unintentional, Leera gasped slightly and told him not to get too comfortable, as they weren't exactly alone in their cell. Pleakley sat up then, slowly and reluctantly.
"I was having such a wonderful dream, too," he yawned.
"Mmm, that wasn't a dream," Leera purred, sitting up beside him. Pleakley looked stunned. "Okay, what did you do to me while I was asleep?" he demanded.
"Nothing you would ordinarily object to," she replied, smiling. At his horrified look, she added, "Don't worry. Your mother and ZaiLeia are asleep."
Doubting, Pleakley glanced over across the room to where the other two women lay still on separate bunks. This seemed to calm him a little, though he still looked peeved. He glanced back at Leera, watching her as she tidied herself up. She tossed her golden hair back gracefully, brushing her fingers through it in a poor attempt to comb it. As he watched, he slowly became aware of how little she had changed… how beautiful she still was. Closing his eye, he still saw her beauty, and it ran deep. He still could not believe that she alive. It was too good to be true. After all the pain from those long years of thinking she was dead, of course he could forgive her. He opened his eye again, sighing dreamily.
"You okay there?" she asked him, noticing the odd expression on his face.
"Oh, I'm more than okay," he whispered, smiling. "I'm…wonderful. Haven't you heard? My fiancée is back from the dead." Hearing his own words, a new thought crossed his mind. "Leera…" he began, suddenly struggling with an unknown fear. "Leera, if we get out of this alive, will you -" his voice caught in his throat, and he gulped. He took her hand, and held it firmly in his. Then, looking her straight in the eye, he said, "Will you marry me?"
Leera stared back at him, seemingly at a loss for words. Then -
"Of course I will, Wendy. You know I will. You asked me that eight years ago. I said yes then, and I say yes now. I never reconsidered my answer for an instant in all those years. I love you."
Hearing this, Pleakley's lip trembled, and he sobbed. "Oh, Leera. I love you, too!" They embraced. He rocked her in his arms for a while, then stopped when she looked up at him, her eye shining. The two gazed fondly into each other's eyes before leaning in closer. Their lips met and they kissed, deeply and passionately. Her tongues slipped into his mouth, and he eagerly greeted them with his own. He felt a warm tingling deep down; the spark of a long-dormant feeling reigniting. Since Leera had gone from his life some eight years earlier, Pleakley had never even considered being with another woman, but now that she was back… His hands wandered up her sides, slowly and seductively, before cupping her breasts.
"Ahem!"
Startled, Pleakley broke their kiss and spun around. His mother and the grand councilwoman were both sitting up in their bunks now and watching him intently, the looks on their faces suggesting that they were fighting down the urge to bust out laughing.
Horrified, Pleakley looked back at Leera, who didn't seem fazed in the least. "I thought you said they were asleep!" he shouted frantically. Leera merely shrugged. ZaiLeia looked over at Vay and muttered, "I don't know about you, but the next time I see one of our guards, I'm going to put in a request to be moved to a separate cell, away from those two! I'll never get any sleep at the rate they're going!"
"Sorry, Wendy," Leera purred, getting up from his bunk and going over to the empty one next to it. "Maybe later."
"Yeah, sure, whatever," he mumbled, still blushing furiously from being caught. "You mean, if we ever get out of this mess."
"Oh, we will, Wendy. Have a little faith. Even if it means dying, we'll get out of this somehow."
"Well, that's reassuring," he grumbled.
"So, when's the wedding?" Vay asked.
"What?!"
"I heard what you two were talking about a minute ago. I just wanna know when Leera's gonna become my daughter-in-law!"
Pleakley shrugged and turned away. "As soon as we get out of here, I guess. We've already waited eight years. No sense in putting it off any longer, right?" He glanced over at Leera, who nodded in agreement.
"Right. This has had to be the longest engagement period in the universe. And you have no idea how frustrating it's been! Damned if I'm gonna wait till our wedding night to have s-"
"Ssshhh!" Pleakley shushed her, looking fearful.
Leera glared at him suspiciously. "What? I think your mother already knows we -"
"No, ssssshhhhhh! I hear something! Listen."
And sure enough, the faint clink of Kaizaxx hooves down the outer corridor grew louder, as at least two guards walked past their cell. They were speaking, arguing with each other in a language Pleakley could not understand. After they had gone, he looked around the room at the three women, whose faces seemed to mirror the same thought.
"What happened? What did they say?" he demanded.
Leera turned to him and said quietly, "It sounds like Le'Kruune is finally starting to lose it. According to those guys, he just killed another officer. Dismembered him. And apparently he's keeping some of the pieces, so the corpse can't put itself back together again."
At this, Pleakley winced.
"Plus it sounds like some of his men are plotting a conspiracy against him," added the grand councilwoman. "But I think they're afraid to share that plan with anyone else, and with good reason. Most of the Kaizaxx still swear allegiance to him."
Then Vay spoke up. "Oh, and they said something about the human, too."
Pleakley looked at her sharply. "Lilo?"
"Yes. She seems to be sick or something. She hasn't moved for hours."